Travel After Arrival

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Travel outside of the United States (U.S.) is generally not recommended due to the complications that may arise when an international scholar is re-entering the U.S.

However, if you need to travel outside of the U.S., please contact Linda Zarzecki or Deirdre Griffin at least six weeks before you travel to get the Travel Validation section of your DS-2019 signed, and to receive a support letter to help facilitate your re-entry. Your re-entry may be delayed if you do not contact Linda or Deirdre before you travel; if you are on a J-1 visa, one of them must sign your J-1 visa paperwork before you travel. Please contact Deirdre for more information.

If the visa stamp issued to you in your passport by the U.S. Embassy/Consulate is expired at the time you wish to travel, you may need to apply for a new visa stamp at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate of the country that you will be visiting in order to re-enter the U.S. However, through Automatic Revalidation, it may be possible for non-immigrants to travel to Canada, Mexico, and “adjacent islands” with expired visa stamps. If you do not travel outside of the U.S. it is acceptable to have an expired visa stamp in your passport, as long as you do not have an expired DS-2019, and that your I-94 has “J-1” and “D/S” written on it.

ABOUT VAI

Established by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996, Van Andel Institute is committed to improving the health and changing the lives of current and future generations, through biomedical research and science education.